Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a robot cleaner which performs cleaning while driving in a section to be cleaned, and more particularly, to a robot cleaner capable of evenly cleaning the entire cleaning area including an area between a wall and the robot cleaner based on wall following and a controlling method thereof.
Robot cleaners may automatically clean an area to be cleaned via suctioning foreign materials such as dust from a floor surface while driving the area to be cleaned without user operation.
The robot cleaners may detect an obstacle (such as a wall) in the area through various sensors and the like and control a driving route and a cleaning operation using the detection result.
The robot cleaners may repeatedly perform a cleaning task while driving according to a predetermined driving pattern. In response to the obstacle or the wall having a certain length or more being present in the cleaning area, the robot cleaners may perform the cleaning task on an interfacing portion between the obstacle or the wall and a floor through the wall following.
For the wall following, the robot cleaners may generally employ a bumper sensor operated in response to a bumper being actuated, depressed or squashed due to a collision with the obstacle, the wall, or a distance sensor.
In response to the bumper signal being detected through the bumper sensor, the robot cleaners using the bumper sensor may drive backward and approach the wall again to perform the wall following. Accordingly, operations of the robot cleaners may be deemed inefficient in terms of time.
In response to the distance sensor being used in the robot cleaner, the robot cleaners may approach the wall to perform the wall following without collision to the wall or obstacle. However, the robot cleaner may not clean a certain area between the wall and obstacle and the robot cleaner due to limitation and error for effectively sensing area of the sensor.